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Booker, Scott campaign in Louisiana

WASHINGTON – The Senate’s two black lawmakers will visit Louisiana this weekend to voice support for opposing candidates in the state’s hotly contested Senate runoff.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a political rock star among Democrats, will campaign for his colleague, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, in Lafayette, Opelousas and other places. Farther west, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a tea party favorite, will stump with Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy at a rally in Monroe.

The two senators made history earlier this month as the first African-American senators to win popular elections to serve together. (Scott was originally appointed to his South Carolina seat.) Both won new terms on Election Day, and each is the first black senator from his state.

Their upcoming appearances in Louisiana offer a reminder of what Albert Samuels, a political scientist at Southern University in Baton Rouge, says is an undeniable theme of the Landrieu-Cassidy runoff. More than 31 percent of the state’s registered voters are black.

“We try to be polite about this, but there’s an underlying racial narrative to this whole race,” he said.

Landrieu, in particular, needs black voters to win. Traditionally, black voters support Democratic candidates. Landrieu, the underdog in the runoff, has ramped up efforts to court those voters, including relying on surrogates such as Booker.

“He’s a personality,’’ said David Bositis, a political analyst who specializes in Southern politics. “He’s probably going down there to try to rouse up black voters for Mary Landrieu. He is popular. He got virtually all the black voters in his election.’’

Scott, by contrast, took only 10 percent of the black vote in South Carolina, according to exit polls.

“He’s not going (to Louisiana) to appeal to black voters,’’ Bositis said. “He is very slick, though, so I could see him going down there to appeal to base Republican voters, who are white.”

But Kirstin Alvanitakis, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Democratic Party, believes Scott’s visit is part of Cassidy’s attempt to attract black voters.

“They’re welcome to bring folks in to talk to African Americans, but ultimately they need to be making an appeal based on policies,’’ she said, ‘’And their policies are terrible.’’

Cassidy’s campaign said the congressman invited Scott, who served with him in the House, to visit Saturday. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will also join Cassidy this weekend.

Scott and other Cassidy supporters “know the importance of this election and how we need to change direction in Washington,’’ said John Cummins, a campaign spokesman.

Donna Brazile, a national Democrat strategist and a New Orleans native, said she doesn’t think the visits by Booker and Scott are about courting any particular group of voters.

“I think it’s about the race to make sure that voters remember that there’s still a runoff,’’ she said.

Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and a former New Orleans mayor, called the visits “interesting’’ and “fascinating.’’

“But I think they’ll both be speaking more to traditional Democratic and Republican bases,’’ he said.